Good Monday to all of you out there. Yes, it’s been a while, and No, I don’t have any excuses. I am back though, so let’s get this Ask the Chef! episode started!
Andy wrote:
Chef-
I’m lactose intolerant and have a stupid-but necessary-question for you; does
substituting soy milk for milk/cream in recipes work? I’m new to the kitchen and
didn’t want to accidentally render one of my first efforts inedible through
ignorance. Thanks!
Andy
Great question Andy! I have never had a problem with substituting soy milk for milk in the past. I have only ever done it a handful of times, so I looked online, and through several of my Asian cookbooks. In most cases, you can substitute the soy milk as if it were a dairy product. The only roadblock you need worry about is whether the soy milk is sweetened or not. You can imagine what a cream soup would taste like with a sweetened soy milk – and I am sure you wouldn’t make that mistake twice!
Harry Conrad wrote:
I am wanting to start exercising with the p90x and was wondering if you have
found any other remedies to the diet plan and the recovery bars that they
recommend I read your posting about the recovery drinks and I am about to give
those a try. Thank you in advance for any information you can give me.Harry
Good for you, Harry. I did a few turns at P90X, and I agree, it can be brutal. I have a couple recipes for recovery drinks that Harry is speaking about here, and here.
The diet plan is a bit tricky for those who want to go on the Primal Path. What I tried to do was follow the plan, yet ignore the advice about using egg whites, or lean meats. You might be interested in checking out Mark’s Daily Apple – the founder of that site is none other than Mark Sisson, who you see at the end of every P90X video talking about supplements.
Recovery bars present a bit of a challenge. You can go for the lower-carb ones at the store, but they are prohibitively expensive. Mark Sisson has a beauty recipe for a Primal Bar – but be careful; they are addictive!
Garry Hannay wrote:
I am manager of a restaurant and we have started making hibiscus tea. A customer
said it did not taste right, it tasted ok to me. It was prepared maybe 4 days
ago. It is constantly refridgerated but can hibiscus tea go off?
I have never had hibiscus tea go off before, so this one is new to me. Here are a couple of my thoughts on this:
Tea will start to taste a bit stale after several days of refrigeration, but should not develop an off taste. If the tea is sour, then I would ask – how the tea was cooled before it was refrigerated?
I have seen liquids sour quickly because the cook put them away before they were properly cooled. While it is good to have the product refrigerated constantly, if the middle of the liquid is still hot when you put it into the refrigerator, that can cause some issues.
If you continue to have problems, another way is to infuse a simple syrup with the flowers, then dilute in ice water per order for your patrons.
I hope that helps you out Garry! Thanks for asking.
Do you have a question for me? You can contact me through the Ask the Chef! page, my Facebook Fan Page, myGoogle+ account, my YouTube Channel, or my Twitter account.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Most of the soy in the US (I don’t know about Canada) is GMO. You should also be concerned about the estrogenic properties of soy, especially if you’re male. I usually use coconut milk as a substitute for cow’s milk, but have also had good luck using almond milk for some dishes. Avoid any with carrageenan added to it, as well.
@Jan – I agree, I like to get my soy from the Asian market only. No offense to the US, but I almost trust the boxes where I can’t read the ingredients because they are in Japanese. Not into GMO. I don’t use soy milk myself – but I do like to have good quality tofu once in a while – as long as it is with a LOT of pork. (I used to make a dish called Mapa Dofu that would knock the socks off your tastebuds.)